TasTiNg tHe foRbiddeN fRuiT

Okay this sounds awkward coming from the lips of a person who vowed never to use a blackberry device ever.I was never a big fan of the phone even though i didn’t attempt to give it a shot at any given time.I just held on to the opinion that it was a total bother and utter distraction,plus the hype people gave it down here was highly overrated.I’ve been aware of the blackberry for a couple of years now but the boom seemed to have exploded in the past three years down here.It was either you own a blackberry or you’ll never know me and a lot of people took this seriously.A friend shared a funny story with me the other day saying that a girl stated to a boy “am sorry,i can’t give you my number.You’d have to own a blackberry so i could give you my pin.” This made the guy want to own the phone so desperately,and he eventually managed to get one.As for me,my family was a big reason why the thought finally settled in my brain.It was always a tug of war situation when the subject of purchasing one came up.I had my reasons,the sole one being addiction and obsession over some stupid inanimate object that could grant total access to the internet.All my siblings owned blackberries,my mum later got one,and my dad as well.They communicated frequently and discussed stories trending,shared pictures and updated themselves with the latest news.My friends wouldn’t stop bothering me about it when i called them to complain about the silence ”get a blackberry so you wouldn’t have to worry about texting at all” they’d say to me.I on the other hand was not interested in it at all as long as i could always tweet and blog with my current phone,an awesome Nokia.With time,my brother who’d been away for a while kept insisting that i get a blackberry so we could communicate constantly.Funny enough,the monthly BIS never appeared to be a problem in my eyes when it cost five thousand naira a month.And now it’s three thousand with extra bonuses depending on the network one is registered to.Soon my dad convinced me to get one for myself even if i was in love with my Nokia phone.I mentioned this to my brother and he made instant arrangements with his blackberry buddy to send a good one over so i could embrace the network.Last week,my blackberry came into town.I went through terrible traffic,confusing navigations ,a series of steep stairscases and annoying security to finally end up at the office where this “sacred” fruit was patiently waiting for me.I walked in,smiled at the lady seated on a swivel chair and introduced myself as the guy her son sent a phone to from Kano.She smiled back,reached for the pack and kindly handed it over to me.”thank you” i said and walked out before she could take another look at me.I was a tad excited but i contained this until i got home.I opened up the pack,tore the seal,took a good look at the phone and instantly started getting acquainted with the manual.Blackberry is fun afterall,i take those cruel words back.However i’ll mince them a bit cos this thing really is a preoccupation.I named my blackberry BLiNK 182,one of the first punk bands i acquired a taste for,then i gladly spread the news on Facebook a couple of hours later.